Reading a federal job posting

Understanding every section of a federal job posting can help you
prepare the strongest possible application. Below, we’ll explain each
section of a TTS job posting and what information to look for when
crafting your application.

Job Title

Most job openings at TTS have two job titles: a functional title similar
to one you would find in the private sector and an official title from
the role’s Position Description. For example, many staff members are
officially “Innovation Specialists” though they fill roles from content
design to front-end developer to account manager.

Take away: Pay attention to the job title at the top, and don’t
get confused if there’s a different one in the Basic Information
section.

Role Summary

This is the heart of the job posting. This section will include
information about the skills we’re looking for in this job, what kind of
work you’d be doing, and specific required technologies or programming
languages. There will also be a list of three-five key objectives with
bullet points describing the core responsibilities of the position.

Take away: Look for a match to your skills and experience in this
section, and determine if you could fulfill the key objectives.

Basic Information

This section gets into some of the technical details of a federal job
posting. Here’s what to look for in each section:

Job announcement number: Applicants claiming veteran status will
need this number to submit their veterans’ preference documents. Other
applicants will not need to use this number during the application
process.

Opening and closing period for this job application: Pay close
attention to the closing date. TTS jobs often have application windows
as short as five days. We can only review applications submitted during
this time period.

Job Title: This is the official job title, such as Innovation
Specialist. Don’t worry if it’s different from the title at the top of
the page.

Series & Grade: These are two numbers that designate the official
job
series
and the General Schedule grade for this position. For example, “0301-15”
would mean the position was in the 0301 Miscellaneous Administration and
Program job series and would have a General Schedule grade of 15. Read
below for more information on the General Schedule (GS).

Promotion Potential: This is the highest possible GS grade you can
be promoted to in this position. The GS scale goes from one to 15.

Salary Range: This illustrates the base pay range for this position.
The actual salary will be the base pay plus a locality pay determined by
where you live. You can learn more about pay and the GS scale in the
Compensation and Benefits section.

Location: This information tells you if this position requires you
to be in commutable distance of a specific location, such as Washington,
DC, or whether this is a 100% virtual position, and you can work
anywhere within the U.S.

Number of vacancies: The vacancies tell how many openings we have
for this specific type of role.

Supervisory status: This status addresses whether the position
includes official supervisory responsibilities.

Travel requirement: Travel is expressed in the percentage of time
you’re likely to travel in the position.

Who May Apply: This section addresses the eligibility criteria for
the position. For most TTS jobs, only United States citizens and
nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Islands) who are not
GSA employees or GSA contractors are eligible to apply.

Security clearance: All government positions require some level of
background check. Most roles at TTS require a public trust position
clearance. Learn more in the Security and Onboarding section.

Work Schedule: All TTS positions are full time, which equates to 40
hours per week.

Appointment Type: TTS hires staff into a couple different types of
positions. Some have a maximum term of four years, so make sure to pay
attention to what type of position for which you are applying.

Job Summary

This is the official job summary attached to the official job title.
It’s a broader and more formal version of the Role Summary that’s
standard across all job titles. This section includes a list of GSA
employment benefits and will likely contain fewer details about the the
position than the Role Summary section.

Take away: This section is helpful, but it’s best to use
information from other sections to determine what to include in your
application.

Key Requirements and Employment Requirements

These two sections contain required information and language that is
consistent across most TTS positions. They reiterate eligibility,
application, and employment requirements.

Duties

This is another required section that expands on the official summary
for the official job title of the position. The duties in this section
will likely be broad and apply to a number of different job types.
Please rely on the information in the Role Summary section and not the
duties section to learn more about the particular position.

Evaluations

It’s important that your resume show that you meet all of the
competencies in this section. Before the interview stage, your resume
will be scored against the skills listed in this section and in the
Qualifications section below, and you will be placed into a category
(Best Qualified, Well Qualified, Qualified, Not Qualified) the TTS
Talent team uses to determine who to interview. If you have experience
with these skills, make sure you include them in detail in your resume.

Take away: Ensure your resume reflects your experience in these
categories. The more they align, the better chance you have of being
placed into a higher category.

Qualifications

This section has critical information that must be present in your
resume for you to advance through the application process. Read this
section carefully. If you have the special qualifications listed, make
sure they are explicitly included in your resume.

The people evaluating your resume are not allowed to make any
assumptions or review anything other than your resume (such as a
portfolio or website) to determine if you meet the specialized
experience criteria. You must include everything you want considered in
your resume. In addition, the resume reviewer must be able to see you
performed a certain task or skill for at least a full year. If you list
a specialized experience skill under only one job, and the job only
lasted six months, it will not qualify you to meet the specialized
experience qualifications.

Take away: Use this section to carefully write your resume for
consideration for a TTS position. Make sure to include relevant
language, so it is obvious how you meet the qualification criteria.

How To Apply

This section includes information about the documents required for your
application and a link to submit your application. If you’re claiming
veterans’ preference, this section will list the specific documentation
you’ll need to provide.

Other Information

This includes additional boilerplate information that we include with
all job postings.

Reasonable Accommodation and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

These two sections include standard language about GSA’s commitment to
provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities and
GSA’s non discrimination employment policy.